Part 78, page 10

Transcript

The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.

FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)

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'EXPERIENCED OR CRAZY' FBI assesses hijacker

WOODLAND, Wash. (AP) — The missing air pirate who bailed out of a Northwest Airlines jetliner carry-ing a parachute and 24½ pounds of $20 bills was "either an experienced jumper or crazy," the FBI agent co-ordinating the search for him says.

Officials say they believe the hi-jacker parachuted from the plane over this sparsely populated area of southwestern Washington, but add that they have found no trace of him in two days of searching.

FBI coordinator Tom Manning said Friday that searchers were working on the premise that the man was an experienced jumper.

"If he is in the area and has land-ed in rough terrain, it's an educated guess we will get some trace of him," Manning said. "We have to presume at this point he is still alive."

Authorities disclosed Friday that the $200,000 Northwest Airline paid the skyjacker in response to a bomb threat was supplied in $20 bills— a packet of 10,000 bills that weighed 24½ pounds and measured 8 by 6 by 27 inches.

FBI agents told searchers to look for two white parachute canopies and portions of a pink one found open and torn aboard the plane when it landed in Reno, Nev. They also said there might be traces of some crew food rations, which were missing from the plane.

A 100-man posse, aided by 10 pa-trol cars and six helicopters, fanned out Friday in a 5-mile line through the mountain foothills, but Manning said the eight-hour effort under low clouds and misty rain did not yield any useful information.

Crew members at a press confer-ence at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport disclosed Fri-day some additional details of the incident, which began after the plane took off from Portland, Ore. for Seattle, Wash., the last stop on a flight that had originated in Wash-ington, D.C.

The man — described as calm, middle-aged and well-dressed— boarded at Portland and gave a stewardess a note shortly after take-off.

"I thought he was trying to hustle me," stewardess Florence Shaffner, 23, 1600 E. 77th St., Richfield, said. "I stuffed the note in my purse and he motioned that I should read it."

His note said he had a bomb, of-ficials said, and he indicated he wanted to go to Mexico. While the jet circled Seattle, the man also or-dered that $200,000 and four para-chutes be brought to the plane in Seattle, and Northwest agreed.

The Air Force disclosed Friday that the pilots of eight chase planes which tailed the jetliner did not see a person leave the plane. Five planes followed the jetliner all the way and three picked it up en route to Reno.

But officials had said earlier that the chase planes would have diffi-culty spotting a skydiver at night [if] he did not open his parachute imme-diately.

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(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)

1 Minneapolis Star —Minneapolis, Minn.

Date: Nov. 27, 1971 Edition: Evening Author: Editor: Robert W. Smith Title:

Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: Minneapolis ☐ Being Investigated

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1b - 35 INDEXED [illegible numbers/stamps] b6 b7C

DB Cooper-33798